I just came back and saw the comments on this story.
I am dismayed and deeply depressed at the number of people seeking to excuse or deny what has happened. Some claim it is a false equivalency, others claim it was a "joke”.
What is was was wrong. We would not, and have not, accepted these types of excuses from conservatives caught doing this. We have not accepted lame justifications or qualified apologies either. But, just because it was “our guy”, some of us are willing to give Franken a pass.
Yes, I know he has done a lot, and I might have been able to let it go if he had offered a sincere and unequivocal apology, but he did not.
When we turn our back on our own values just because it is politically expedient to do so, we become no better than the other side. I am sure there are plenty who will argue this point, but I really have no desire to read it, or engage in such a discussion.